Value of Antique Wicker Buggy

I had E-mailed you after your article on wicker in the July 2009 What’s Up Annapolis magazine and gotten your reply that you would need to see pictures of my 1905 antique wicker baby buggy in order to assign an approximate value. I appreciate so much your willingness to help me! You stated you would reply in your blog.

As you can note from the pictures, we are using the buggy as a sort of “cabinet” for sound entertainment equipment. The wheels only show in one of the photos, but I think you can ascertain enough from the pictures to determine what you need to know. Also, would you have an idea what sort of care we should be giving the buggy as to keeping the wicker supple?

Thank you SO MUCH for your assistance.

Sincerely,
S. T.

For readers who have not read the article on wicker, please go to www,WhatsUpMag.com and look in the Home/Antiques section of the site.

Response:
Wow, I’ve never seen a wicker baby carriage used quite the way you are using it. It appears to be a focal point in your home and you are enjoying it. Usually these antiques are used for display purposes for a doll or teddy bear collection.
The white paint appears to be recent. Based on its vintage, the wooden handle. and the wheels this was probably a natural wicker, perhaps with a two tone decoration. I cannot tell from the equipment placed inside, what is the condition of the interior.
From a value standpoint, the more original an item is, the more value it has. I am going to make a very general estimate and state that your carriage is approximately worth (based on visual imagery only) between $175 and $275.
In response to your question regarding preserving the wicker, I think the temperature conditions are most pertinent. Any extreme swings between hot and cold or dryness and dampness will cause the wicker to expand and contract. Try to keep your buggy in a room where the humidity and temperature is fairly constant.
Enjoy, what seems to be a family heirloom.
N.M.

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Thank you so much for your reply re my 1905 baby buggy. It definitely IS a focal point in my living room, but in the photos I sent, I had it pulled out in front of the fireplace hoping to get a better shot of it.
I have it angled in a corner with the sound entertainment equipment in the main part and the large lace umbrella from China (purchased at Tuesday Morning) in the umbrella holder angled over the main carriage part. I’ve also used dried wild flowers and artificial greenery on top of the entertainment equipment to try to disguise the equipment somewhat, but it was in disarray in the photos so the whole arrangement wasn’t seen at its best. It really is a novel as well as useful addition to our living room!

We used the buggy in a prior home in our sunroom. My husband made a step arrangement where I could display live plants at various heights in the main part of the carriage with the smallest plants near the end where the footrest was attached. It suited the sunroom perfectly used this way!

The whole interior of the buggy was gone by the time we got it from my mother and likely long before that. I rather imagine it was fitted with leather or leatherette for the baby’s seat when it was new, but there was only the wooden and wicker frame left by the time we brought it up to MD from my mother’s home in NC after her death.

Thank you again for taking the time to respond to my request for information. I printed out your reply and have it in an envelope hidden in the buggy for future reference for anyone interested.

Nadja Maril is Editor of Chesapeake Taste magazine. She is the former Editor-in Chief of What’s Up? Publishing Group and former lighting editor of Victorian Homes magazine. Previous to working full-time as a writer and editor, she was the owner of an antiques business “Rare and Beautiful Things” that specialized ... Continue reading →